Raiders deal in S.A. not dead yet

Updated 10:22 pm, Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Raiders owner Mark Davis reportedly hasn't signed off on a deal with Oakland that includes free land for a new stadium.

Raiders owner Mark Davis reportedly hasn't signed off on a deal with Oakland that includes free land for a new stadium.

Photo: Associated Press / File Photo

Raiders deal in S.A. not dead yet

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SAN ANTONIO — Hopes for an Oakland Raiders relocation to the Alamo City seemed to be doused Wednesday when news broke in the Bay Area that officials there had reached agreement on terms to retain the NFL team.

But San Antonio isn't out of the hunt yet.

City Manager Sheryl Sculley said late Wednesday that “we're still in conversations” with the team, despite Bay Area news reports.

“I'm not surprised that someone on the council (in Oakland) might make a proposal to them, but what I read in the article, it appeared that there hadn't been any discussion by the council, approval by the council, and certainly not approval by the Raiders,” she said.

Councilman Ron Nirenberg also discounted reports from Oakland that the football team is inching closer to a deal.

“It appears to be a textbook response from a community that is under fire for not getting their stadium situation figured out,” he said. “Until we are told that San Antonio is no longer an option for the Raiders, I believe we still have to line up all the elements that would make an NFL deal possible here.”

Not everyone in San Antonio is convinced, however, that there's still a deal to be made — at least with the Raiders.

Mike Sculley, Bexar County's expert on professional sports, said he wasn't surprised by news from Oakland and suggested that there's more potential for Major League Soccer in San Antonio.

“There's a market here,” Mike Sculley said of MLS. “The corporate sponsorship level would be a lot lower (than the NFL), tickets would be less expensive. It's a better economic and demographic fit.”

Billionaire businessman B.J. “Red” McCombs said he was disappointed by the news of a potential deal in Oakland that would result in the construction of a new stadium, but that shouldn't stop San Antonio from trying to attract other NFL teams seeking to relocate.

“Anytime we lose one it's a disappointment, of course,” McCombs said. “We just have to keep working at it. Without a doubt, we have something good to offer (NFL teams seeking to relocate).”

The Raiders met with McCombs and other San Antonio leaders in July to explore the city as a relocation option if it fails to reach a deal in the Bay Area.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday that a new Raiders stadium offer worked out by Oakland Mayor Jean Quan's development team calls for giving free land to the Raiders and for city and Alameda County taxpayers to pay off $120 million the team still owes from renovations made in the 1990s to the current Raiders stadium, which would be demolished.

Although Raiders owner Mark Davis reportedly hasn't signed off on the deal, McCombs said he's heard nothing out of the Bay Area that indicates the team is leaning toward moving to San Antonio.

McCombs told Davis in July that he would be willing to become an equity partner if it would help push the Raiders from Northern California to South Texas.

Former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros spearheaded the city's efforts to woo the Raiders. McCombs said he wants Cisneros to continue to lead the Alamo City's NFL charge.

“Henry is the best shot we have toward getting a team in here,” McCombs said. “Sorry we didn't land this one, but we'll still be looking.”

Jim Greenwood, the vice president of governmental affairs for Valero Energy Corp., said he hopes the city will take a proactive approach to attracting an NFL team. Other teams with stadium issues pondering relocation include the San Diego Chargers and the St. Louis Rams.

“I think it is appropriate at this time to put together a committee that can be best positioned to take advantage of an opportunity for San Antonio to get an NFL team,” Greenwood said. “We need to have the business community in the loop.”

Nirenberg suggested San Antonio is a much different city than it was in 2011, when the California-based Premier Partnerships consulting firm reported that San Antonio wasn't quite ready for an NFL team.

If the Raiders do eventually solidify a deal in Oakland, Nirenberg said, all the work San Antonio has done “makes us that much more prepared for when a real deal comes along.”